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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Dining Out @ Neroteca, Lorong Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

One of my favourite places to indulge in hearty Italian food with my friends is Neroteca located at the Somerset Residences at Lorong Ceylon. It's a small place and during weekends, if you don't book a table, expect to be dissapointed. Don't expect it to be a quiet place too as it's a place to hang out with friends and sometimes if you sit near the kitchen, you can even hear the chefs banging on the pots and pans. I like the way how they have decorated the place with ceiling to floor racks filled with Italian ingredients ( we sat next to the tuna cans) and the hanging sausages just above the bar area. (For pictures, check the link to their website) My friends who have visited Nerovivo, their sister outlet claims the food especially the pastas here are much nicer. However, they're non halal as most of their dishes have either bacon, parma ham or pork in it.

I've had the opportunity to eat lunch and dinner here a few times. As usual, pictures during daytime is always great versus my night ones as it was pretty dim there. I had a lot of trouble trying to snap a picture of my lunch as they do this lunch special known as Menu Fisso which is served on an enormous plate. You pick a choice of fish or beef which is served with pasta or salad that changes on a daily basis during weekdays. For my lunch special, I had the braised snapper with salad and grilled polenta. The sauce which the fish comes in delicious that I was mopping it all up with my polenta. Simply yummy especially with the fresh basil leaves on top of it.

We have tried quite a few items from their menu and so far, their salads are excellent. I know we have ordered their Neroteca Salad(RM29) and the Pietmonese Salad(RM22) which were equally good. Both of the salads come chock full of ingredients so share them with your friends to leave room for other goodies. Another starter we tried was their Prosciutto e Melone (RM29) i.e. thinly sliced parma ham which complements the sweet rock melon.

Sometimes they run special promotions depending on seasonal ingredients. One time we ate there, they had a white truffle special which you can choose an item for it to be served with. We all shared a simple omelette made with garlic, herbs and parmesan cheese since we thought that will be an excellent way to enjoy the truffle. We weren't too impressed with the truffle but the omelette was superb. That definitely should be a permanent item in their menu as it was utterly delicious.

Pastas here are also very good. The picture above shows the Bucatini (RM22) which is served with amatriciana i.e. a tomato based sauce, onion and bacon which my friend ate. We have also tried their Tagliatelle Carbonara (RM22), the Tagliatelle Boscaiola (RM22) and the Linguine with pesto and prawns (RM24). The pesto one wasn't that fantastic but I like the Tagliatelle Boscaiola which comes with sausages, mushrooms and rocket leaves in a cream sauce.

For one of the dinners, I had their Salsiccia (RM36) which is their home made sausages on grill polenta and mushroom sauce. Unlike other sausages, their version is air dried hence it's chewy so this may take time to get used to since we usually associate sausages differently.

Their dessert selection is not too impressive but stay for their coffee which is good. We have on one occasion ordered their Chocolate Cake which looked impressive but didn't taste as good as it looked. Do give the place a try especially with a group of friends as it's a great place to hang out and chit chat.

NerotecaGround Floor, Somerset Residences8 Lorong CeylonKuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2070 0530

(Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Non-halal)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Been there about 3 times (last in Jan 08), pretty nice place, very lively with great Italian food.

But damn...that strange Italian accent that the service staff adopted did get on my nerves after awhile.

Also, the last time I went, there was a female member of the staff who seemed to be a manager (she wasn't wearing a uniform). Usually they'll serve bread when you are seated. Guess they have a new policy now. Asked for some bread while we were deciding what to order - guess what? "Sorry Sir, we'll ONLY serve bread after you have placed your orders". EH?? Stunned, I asked for bread again in case I somehow heard her wrong...same reply, except that this time she rolled her eyes after, and walked away. Was too hungry to kick up a fuss. Ate and left.

Will be in KL for a business trip again next week, and keeping my fingers crossed this lady would've been fired by now. Left a bad taste in my mouth, that.